Fishing floats have been used by fisherman for many years. Fishing floats are most often used to suspend live bait between the top of the water and the water bottom, making the bait more attractive to certain types of fish. Because water depths are not constant and fisherman customarily fish in various locations, fishing floats which are not easily moved to different positions along the fishing line are inconvenient to use. One type of float exhibiting this problem has a wire loop through which the fishing line is threaded and near which so-called "BB" sinkers are clamped onto the fishing line to secure the location of the float. This process is very time consuming and not amenable to rapid fishing float position changes.
Another type of fishing float currently used by fishermen is constructed of cork, or styro-foam, and includes a central passageway through which the fishing line is threaded. A small piece of plastic or wood is wedged into one side of the passageway to position the fishing float at a particular location on the fishing line. This wedge piece often falls out of the hole and is lost. Consequently, the fisherman must then search for another twig or piece of wood to substitute for the original wedge piece. Undersized substitutes often fail to adequately secure the float in one position, and oversized substitutes often damage the relatively soft material of the fishing float.
Fishermen often fish in great depths with the aid of casting rods. It is often desirable to avoid positioning the fishing float for this great depth before the casting is performed because of various accuracy and safety concerns associated with beginning one's cast with more than three or four feet of fishing line extending from the tip of the rod. To avoid these problems, fishing floats which are capable of continually sliding up and down the line, such as the wire-loop fishing float and the cork fishing float discussed above, are often used in combination with an appropriately located knot on the fishing line composed of string or rubber band which will not pass through the fishing float but will pass through the eyes of the rod and into the reel. As the rod is cast out and the hook and sinker begin to sink, the fishing float rises along the line until it reaches the knot and stops the hook and sinker from sinking further. A bead in the line may also be used between the knot and fishing float if the knot is too small to stop the fishing float. This method is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,011,285.
Another very common type of fishing float currently used by fisherman is constructed of plastic in the form of an air-tight sphere with a small retractable cylinder attached. This type of fishing float is often painted red and white. The cylinder is spring loaded and cooperates with a wire to enable the fisherman to attach the fishing line to the top and bottom of the fishing float. If this type of fishing float is dropped onto a very hard surface, it tends to break and is no longer air-tight. Also, the wire and spring may rust after prolonged usage. Furthermore, the method of attaching and subsequently moving the fishing float along the fishing line is not intuitively obvious. Finally, the number of parts used and the relatively large expense involved in manufacturing are disadvantages of this type of fishing float. There is, therefore, a need in the art to provide solutions to these and other serious problems.